Welcome back one and all. Thank you once again for coming back to read my story. I am hoping to wrap this story up in the next few chapters. How many chapters that will be, I'm not entirely sure yet, however I do have an ending in mind now. There is light at the end of this tunnel! I rather enjoyed writing this chapter and like so many others in this story, it took a different turn than I originally intended. So I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter
The Unexpected Baby
Chapter Twenty-Six: Never a dull moment
Hermione roamed the halls of Hogwarts castle alone. Class was in session and she had to resist the urge to peek through any of the open doors. She longed to be in one of those classrooms again, learning and practicing magic. She would never forget the thrill of casting a spell correctly for the first time after hours of practice and study.
After a time, she found that she had retraced her old route and was standing outside the Library. Her heart leapt as she pushed through the doors and was enveloped in the smell of old books and wood varnish.
"Miss Granger?"
Hermione turned to see the old librarian, Madam Pince, gazing at her over a large tome. She looked as hawk-like as ever and her beady eyes glinted in the winter sunlight shining in through the windows.
"Hello Madam Pince," she said brightly as she walked over to the woman.
"I'm surprised to see you back here. What brings you to Hogwarts?" Madam Pince asked curiously in a voice that quivered with age.
"I'm here with my partner, he's interviewing for the Care of Magical Creatures position," Hermione told her.
She paused for a second, realising that she had just called Charlie her partner. This was the first time she had ever said this, and it didn't sound wrong, but extremely right. They'd never officially talked about their relationship status, but had rather been going with the flow. She made a mental note to talk to Charlie about this when they got home.
"I see," the librarian said in a bored tone. She buried herself back in her huge book and Hermione took this as her que to look around the library.
It hadn't changed. Not one bit. It was still a wonderland of knowledge with bookcases that seemed to brush the ceiling. Each shelf was laden with books and Hermione found herself running her finger along the spines, just like she used to when she was younger. The feel of the leather was smooth and soothing to her touch and in her minds eye she could see book titles popping up before her. When she got to the end of a particular row she came upon some sixth-year students buried in books.
"I don't get it Pamela, I just don't get it!" said a petite girl with thick, black curly hair. Hermione could see a Hufflepuff scarf draped over the back of her chair.
"And you think I do?" Pamela asked incredulously behind a stack of teetering books. Hermione could just about see a tuft of spikey brown hair hiding behind the book blockade. She held back and listened to their conversation for a moment longer.
"You seemed to understand it better in class than I did, or were you just bluffing?" the petite girl asked huffily.
"I thought I understood it at the time but then when we started researching it more I realised that I had no clue," Pamela said through gritted teeth. The petite girl snorted and threw her hands in the air.
"Some Ravenclaw you are," she said hopelessly.
"Just because I'm in Ravenclaw doesn't mean I have to understand things one hundred percent every single time Wanda!"
Hermione stepped forward just as the conversation started to get a little heated. She didn't want these girls fighting over something as silly as not understanding something from a class. She approached the table and greeted them.
"Hi, you sound like you could use a bit of help," she said in a friendly tone as she pulled out a chair to sit down. She sighed happily as she took the weight off her feet.
The two girls looked at her confusedly, then spotted her pregnant belly and suddenly became awkward. Clearly they didn't understand why a pregnant woman, who was obviously not a professor, was taking a seat at their table. Eventually the girl named Wanda spoke.
"Yeah we could use some help," she said, her shoulders slumped in defeat. Pamela shot her a glare and then eyed Hermione suspiciously.
"What's the topic?" Hermione asked as she reached for the book Wanda had open in front of her.
"Charms," Wanda told her as she passed her the text book. Hermione scanned the page that Wanda had highlighted to within an inch of its life and grinned.
"I see Professor Flitwick is still using this method for the Grateus Charm. Fair enough," Hermione muttered more to herself than to the two students sitting in front of her. The girls remained quiet and stared at her.
"I remember this particular assignment when I was in his NEWT class. If you find a book by Walter Spencer called "Charming the charmed and repelling the repelled," it should give you all the answers you need, for Flitwick's method anyway. In practical use in the outside world though, the best method actually comes from "Charms for advanced users," by Samuel Cummings," Hermione explained.
Wanda hurriedly scribbled the names of the two books Hermione mentioned down on a scrap piece of parchment and positively glowed with joy and relief. Pamela still eyed Hermione suspiciously and then asked her a question.
"Who are you and why are you helping us?" she asked, her Ravenclaw pride injured slightly by Hermione's superior knowledge.
"Pamela!" Wanda hissed at her friend. Hermione chuckled and stood up from her chair.
"My name is Hermione Granger. I was in Gryffindor here quite a few years ago. I took Charms at NEWT level and I found that book helpful. However, I actually work with the man who invented the new method, and trust me it is much easier."
"Hold on. You're Hermione Granger?" Wanda asked as she leaned forward to sit on the edge of her seat. Hermione nodded her head and gave a smirk that would have rivaled even Draco Malfoy.
""Brightest witch of her age" Hermione Granger?" Pamela queried, her face betraying her shock and awe.
"So I've been told," Hermione laughed.
"Best friend of actual Harry Potter?" Wanda squeaked, practically falling off her chair. Hermione nodded her head and laughed as Wanda jumped up from the table and grabbed the scrap piece of parchment.
"I'm going to find that book!" she squeaked as she darted off into the recesses of the library.
When the next bell tolled Hermione found herself swept up in the crowd once again, and this time she was ushered to the Transfiguration corridor. She caught her first glimpse of the professor who had taken over McGonagall's class. Professor Gwendoline Cohen, a slender, waspish looking woman with tight, curly, iron coloured hair had lived in England as a child, and had been taught at Hogwarts, but had moved to America once she had left after her seventh year. Apparently, she had taught Transfiguration in a private wizarding school for several years before she had decided she'd wanted to come back to England.
Hermione peered in through the open door to the Transfiguration classroom and observed the class until a ruckus down the hall caught her attention. There were several people shouting and the sound of running footsteps coming along the corridor. Hermione was instantly alert. If her time in Hogwarts and St. Mungo's had taught her anything, it was to be ready at the drop of a hat.
"Get him to the Hospital Wing, now, hurry!" yelled a startled looking Gryffindor Prefect as they guided a couple of younger students. Hermione heard the words Hospital Wing and jumped into action.
"What's going on here, my name is Healer Granger," she said authoritatively to the harried Prefect. The Gryffindor boy gawped at her but something seemed to kick into gear in his mind as he processed the information.
"A vanishing spell gone wrong, it hit his throat!" explained the Prefect as Hermione urged them to continue on towards the Hospital Wing.
A young Slytherin student was holding his throat and gasping for air as another Gryffindor boy carried him along the corridor. The second Gryffindor boy was sheet white and sweating, but was constantly muttering to the Slytherin.
"I'm sorry Edwin, it was an accident, please don't tell Auntie Jane!" he muttered over and over again. Hermione assumed they must have been related.
They burst through the doors of the Hospital Wing and Madam Pomfrey came bustling out of her office looking angry. She halted as soon as she seen Hermione, and then looked to the boy, Edwin, who was holding his throat and gasping. Hermione instructed the Prefect to get the boy onto a bed and she strode up to the shocked matron.
"Let me handle this Madam Pomfrey," she said sternly. Madam Pomfrey nodded her head in a stunned silence and followed Hermione to the bed.
"What is his name?" Hermione asked as she whipped out her wand and swirled it over the gasping student's body.
"Edwin Marshall, he's my cousin," said the other Gryffindor boy, his hands and lips trembling as he spoke.
"How did this happen?" Hermione asked curtly. The boy flinched but the Prefect put a hand on his shoulder and urged him to explain.
"I was trying to get in some quick practice at my Vanishing spell before Professor Cohen's class, and my cousin came to tell me something, broke my concentration and it…it hit his throat!" the Gryffindor managed to explain as his hands continued to tremble violently. Hermione nodded her head in understanding and looked to Madam Pomfrey.
"Treat this boy for shock, this was clearly an accident," she said as she continued to wave her wand over the boy named Edwin.
"Come along Jacob," Madam Pomfrey said in a soothing tone as she got the boy named Jacob over into a free bed. She waved her wand over him and his eyes drooped. Within moments he was asleep. Hermione turned to the Prefect.
"Inform Professor Cohen that Jacob will not be attending class and also find out where Edwin was supposed to be and inform his professor too," she instructed. The boy nodded his head sharply, turned on his heel and sprinted out of the room.
"What is wrong with him Miss Granger?" Madam Pomfrey asked as she came over and laid a hand on Edwin's head. Hermione kept a neutral expression, but inside she grimaced. She couldn't let Madam Pomfrey or Edwin see her shock.
"His larynx has vanished," she informed the matron, who's hands flew to her mouth to cover her gasp.
"He will be fine, I've already non-verbally performed a spell to help him breathe easier, but the rest is going to take a lot of skill," Hermione explained. Madam Pomfrey noticeably gulped but tried to keep her expression neutral like Hermione's.
"You're going to be okay Edwin," Hermione told the young boy. He gripped on to the hem of her dress in fear and she gently prised his fingers open and held his hand in hers.
"Madam Pomfrey is going to put you to sleep now. You're going to have a nice rest and when you wake up you'll be all better," she said sweetly as she nodded to the awaiting matron. Madam Pomfrey gripped her wand and then waved it over the boy.
Professor McGonagall surveyed the wizard sitting in front of her. The man she was seeing was nervous, sweaty and rather green in complexion. Internally she frowned at him as he stammered and babbled his way through another one of her questions. This man was nothing like the Charlie Weasley she had known when he had attended Hogwarts. That wizard had been confident, reliable, friendly, approachable and had the ability to form complete sentences. She sighed heavily and raised her hand for him to stop. If she wanted this to work, she was going to have to take a different approach.
"Charlie," she said firmly, sitting forward in her seat and placing her elbows on the desk.
Charlie felt bile rising in the back of his throat. It burned and bubbled, but somehow, he managed not to gag. That was the last thing he wanted Professor McGonagall to see.
"I'm going to be honest with you, this isn't working. I've never known you to be like this, so I think we are going to take a different approach to this interview. Come with me," she said in a steady tone.
Charlie felt his stomach drop slightly, but he stood up and followed McGonagall out of her office and down into the castle below. Her robes billowed out behind her as she marched into the corridor and Charlie almost had to jog to keep up with her. When they had made their way to the third floor, McGonagall stopped and Charlie halted beside her.
"Let's walk and talk," she said in what could have been described as a maternal tone. Charlie blinked at her several times, but then followed as she started a slow walk down the corridor.
"What was life like in Romania then? Your brothers talked of you often when they attended Hogwarts, did you miss home?" McGonagall asked as she folded her hands in front of her as she walked.
"It was hard to start with. I was just out of Hogwarts," Charlie started to explain. Moving and walking through the castle was occupying a certain part of his brain, so his words seemed to just tumble out of his mouth. The familiar surroundings seemed to comfort him in a way and he felt like he was simply visiting the castle.
"You know how it is. You're 18, full of beans and think you know everything about magic. I especially thought I knew everything about Magical Creatures. I still had the leaflet you gave me about dragon reserves, and I thought that it sounded like the coolest thing on this planet," he explained, the sounds of their footsteps echoing slightly through the hall. McGonagall nodded her head along with him.
"My mum wasn't pleased about me going, not one bit, and I think my dad had his heart set on me becoming a Quidditch player, but the lure of the dangerous was too strong for me and I went. The culture shock took me by surprise first, and then the actual ins and outs of the job knocked me off balance. Being a Dragonologist isn't a walk in the park. It's more like a sprint through the Forbidden Forest where every creature is a Dragon and they are all hungry and have just laid eggs."
Professor McGonagall chuckled lightly at this and kept looking straight ahead. They turned corners as they talked and Charlie described all that he had learned on the reserve and talked about the experience he had gained, not just with Magical Creatures but with people too. This was a much better interview. Charlie had worked on his feet for most of his life. A sit down interview wasn't his style, so a walking and talking interview would do just as well.
"What made you come back?" she asked him seriously. "You had your dream job, why stop?"
"Hermione," Charlie said without thinking. McGonagall glanced at him from the corner of her eye and he was looking off somewhere into the distance.
"I almost died from an injury inflicted by a dragon. If it hadn't been for Hermione I would have died. Obviously, you can see our situation, but it's not like what you might think. Hermione and I have this…connection. I can't explain it."
Professor McGonagall made a slight humming noise and urged him to continue. Charlie felt the corners of his mouth prick up in the shape of a smile, and he found his cheeks getting flush.
"Priorities change when you have someone in your life that you love. I would do anything for her. I would do anything for our little boy, and I can't wait to meet him. I've gotten to do my dream job and meet the woman of my dreams. I don't want some dragon taking that away from me. I want to start the next chapter of my life and I want her right there with me. A new adventure in a new job is just what we need, and I can think of no better place to work than in the place that we love the most. Hogwarts is special, and I would love to impart my knowledge of Magical Creatures of all types onto the students here."
Charlie stopped and looked at Professor McGonagall, who had also stopped. She peered at him over the rim of her spectacles in a way that reminded him of Albus Dumbledore. Her eyes didn't twinkle like his did, instead they held a fire, a passion that spoke to Charlie. She loved Hogwarts and so did he.
"Professor I know you have other people in line for interviews for this position. You can interview them but you are never going to find someone as qualified and as capable for this job as me. I will bring passion and drive into the Care of Magical Creatures class and I guarantee you that more students will want to take the class because of the way I teach," he said with fire and enthusiasm mixed together. A smirk cloyed at Professor McGonagall's lips.
"And what makes you so special Mr. Weasley?" she asked strongly.
"I've trained Dragons, and none of your other candidates will be able to say that."
"Excellent Charlie, truly excellent. Let's contin-," McGonagall began to say but was cut off by a Gryffindor Prefect who ran up to her, puffing and gasping for breath.
"Kenneth, what on Earth is the matter?" McGonagall asked in astonishment as she took in the red face of the student and the sweat beading on his brow.
Charlie went over to the boy and placed a strong hand on his shoulder and he looked him in the eye.
"Breathe kid, breathe," he said calmly.
The boy named Kenneth stood up as straight as he could and started breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth, just to try and regulate his breathing. Once he had composed himself, Professor McGonagall nodded for him to speak.
"There has been an incident professor," the Prefect said, "Madam Pomfrey has asked that you come to the Hospital Wing. A St. Mungo's Healer has had to heal a student."
Charlie's eyes flew open and his grip on the boy's shoulder tightened. His eyes darted to meet Professor McGonagall's and she instantly started off towards the Hospital Wing with Charlie hot on her heels.
Moments later the doors to the Hospital Wing burst open and Professor McGonagall swept in with Charlie jogging in behind her. Hermione was sitting next to Edwin, her wand trained on his throat. She looked to Charlie and gave him a weak smile. He rushed to her side and grabbed her free hand.
"Is everything alright? Are you okay?" he asked her in a rush.
"Tell me what happened Hermione," Professor McGonagall asked sharply.
Hermione kept her wand fixed on the boy's throat and squeezed Charlie's hand reassuringly. She glanced to Madam Pomfrey, who was wiping the student's face with a cool, damp cloth and she gave her a slight smile.
"Edwin needs to go to St. Mungo's Professor. He was involved in an accident with a Vanishing spell, which vanished his entire larynx," she explained. She watched as Professor McGonagall's face finally broke with shock. She rushed to Edwin's side and placed a hand tenderly on his forehead.
"It was a good thing Hermione was here Minerva," Madam Pomfrey said quietly as she looked at the headmistress. McGonagall looked at her gravely.
"This was beyond my skill. Hermione saved Edwin's life."
"Poppy…" Professor McGonagall said with a voice that slightly shook with emotion. Madam Pomfrey looked back to Hermione who was still holding Charlie's hand.
"I was able to stabilise him. He is going to be fine, but for the next 48 hours he needs to be watched constantly. I'm in no fit state at the moment to do this for you, and it would require a team of more than just Madam Pomfrey and me," Hermione told the headmistress truthfully, who was gazing down at Edwin with shock still on her face.
"Is it safe for him to travel?" Professor McGonagall asked finally, her voice and emotions under her control again.
Hermione grimaced and glanced to Charlie who was looking at her like she was about to break like a fine china plate.
"He needs to get there instantly. Once I take my wand away from his throat he will be safe for roughly 60 seconds. When you get to St. Mungo's it will take at least 30 seconds for someone to get to you that has the skill required to perform the Muticula Charm. You will need to apparate him yourself Professor. You're the only one with the authority here in Hogwarts," Hermione explained as Professor McGonagall listened intently.
"Understood. Poppy will you inform Professor Flitwick of my absence."
Charlie bent his head down to Hermione's and rested his forehead on the top of her head. He breathed in the smell of her strawberry shampoo and let it calm him for an instant. He placed a hand on her stomach and waited. He didn't feel any kicks or punches, but he wasn't worried. Hermione would have told him by now if there had been anything to worry about regarding the baby.
"You're amazing," he whispered to her as Professor McGonagall gave more instructions to Madam Pomfrey.
Hermione lifted her face to look at him, gave him a small smile and kissed him gently on the lips, all the while keeping her wand pointed directly at the young student's throat.
"I love you," she whispered back. Charlie chuckled lightly and rubbed his hand on her stomach gently.
"I love you too you brilliant Healer."
"Mr. Weasley, I'm afraid our interview must be cut short; however, I believe we were able to cover everything within our time. You will hear from me in the next seven days," Professor McGonagall said firmly, addressing the two people in front of her. Charlie grinned at her and thanked her for her time.
"Healer Granger, Hermione," the headmistress began, and then she looked down to Edwin on the bed.
"I can't thank you enough for what you've done here today. You saved this boy's life. I am eternally grateful, as I am sure he will be too."
Hermione grinned and bowed her head slightly. She had gotten praise from Professor McGonagall on many occasions, but never like this. She felt heat creeping up her neck and into her cheeks.
"I was just doing what any good Healer would have done," she replied appreciatively.
McGonagall gave them both a genuine smile and then became serious. She placed a hand on the boy's shoulder and a look of intense concentration appeared on her face.
"You have to apparate into the emergency area of the hospital," Hermione instructed slowly and carefully, making sure the headmistress understood what she needed to do.
"As you apparate in, the spells placed on the hospital will know that Edwin is the one that requires a bed and no matter where you land he will appear on one. Call for Healer Cummings or Healer Marks, they will both be working today. When either one appears tell them to perform that charm straight away. You have only 60 seconds."
"Thank you again Hermione," Professor McGonagall said graciously and then, with a loud CRACK, she and Edwin disappeared leaving Hermione, Charlie and a tired looking Madam Pomfrey alone in the Hospital Wing.
A/N: There you have it. Never a dull moment in Hogwarts eh? Let me know what you think in a review and if you haven't done so already, give the story a little favourite ;) And as always...apologies for spell/grammar issues. I proof read late at night, which is a terrible thing to do.